One angry tweet summed up Halo 4 designer David Ellis’ feelings towards game designer Hideo Kojima’s recent announcement regarding his plans to make a female character in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5 more erotic.
On the heels of Kojima’s revealed plans, David Ellis – a designer for Spartan Ops in Halo 4 – tweeted this message:
In another tweet, David adds that sexuality in gaming has been done right, and used Bayonetta as an example. He added the hypersexualization Kojima is going for is “lazy and exploitative.”
Here is the initial post by Kojima:
Similar outrage has been pouring in from across the industry, as developers have chimed in regarding Kojima’s attempt to boost cosplay and figurine sales.
Stefani Joosten, the body mo-cap for Quiet, the female character that has been caught in the middle of all the buzz, said her character has a reason for wearing the outfit, which includes a bikini and torn stockings, but wasn’t able to give more detail. However she encouraged players to play through the game when it comes out, despite the early controversy that’s surrounding it.
In a recent Q&A, Kojima explained that the word “erotic,” may have been misused, and simply wanted to make a unique and “sexy” character. He added that due to her inability to speak, and the limited dialogue in the new entry of the Metal Gear series, he decided to ask lead artist Yoji Shinkawa to make these specific designs.
Metal Gear Solid 5 will be released Dec 21 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4.
